Kirkcaldy’s town centre post office to cut opening hours

Postmaster Mobeen Akhtar said footfall on the High Street has fallen sharply since the closure of M&S.

Kirkcaldy’s town centre post office is to cut its opening hours next month due to the fall in the number of shoppers on the High Street following the closure of M&S.

Postmaster Mubeen Akhtar said the difficult decision had been taken in order to safeguard the long-term future of the business, as well as his own and seven employee’s jobs.

Mr Akhtar said the closure of the retail giant after 81 years of trading in the town had “impacted heavily” on his business resulting in a “significant and concerning” decrease in footfall in the five weeks since M&S closed its doors for the last time.

He said: “We have had both the main post office counter and the convenience store open seven days per week since 2016 but that’s simply no longer sustainable.

“Footfall has dropped off dramatically and that is now having a significant impact on business.

“What with business rates and other overheads it was a hard decision to take but I have had to do it to save not only my own job, but those of seven other employees.

“We want to remain on the High Street and will do whatever we can to continue trading, but there is no hiding from the fact that Kirkcaldy is struggling right now.”

The new opening hours will come into effect from April 15 with the post office and shop open from 8.30am - 5.30pm Monday to Friday, and from 9am - 3.30pm on Saturday.

The Sunday service that allowed for banking transactions and for the purchase of traveler cheques, foreign currency and some other counter services, is to be scrapped completely with the post office and shop to remain closed all day.